Watch a recording of the full briefing HERE
Washington, DC — On a virtual press briefing held earlier today (recording here), leading experts discussed in detail the threats and the dangerous implications from far-right actors as we head into the homestretch of the election. Anti-democratic forces are organizing across the country behind the lie that there is a conspiracy by liberal elites to manipulate immigrants to cast fraudulent votes to steal the election. This Big Lie 2.0 is being amplified to lay the foundation for disrupting or disputing the results of the upcoming election and undermining American democracy.
Devin Burghart, President and Executive Director, Institute for Research and Education on Human Rights, said: “The ‘Big Lie’ that the election was somehow ‘rigged’ or ‘stolen’ didn’t end with the violent attempt to prevent certification of the 2020 election results. In the last 4 years, the Election denial movement shifted to county election commission meetings, courtrooms, cyber symposiums, and countless conspiracies in preparation for a repeat this November. This time, the baseless claim that undocumented immigrants are swamping the polls has fueled the Big Lie Machine. The election denial goal has three parts: 1. Disenfranchise voters 2. Deny access to the ballot, and 3, delay certification of election results—by force if necessary—thus overturning the will of the people.”
Heidi Beirich, Co-founder//CEO and President, Global Project Against Hate and Extremism, said: “These lies about immigrants voting are fueling far right extremist and election denial movements. Not only do they put the immigrant community in danger, but they are threatening to disrupt and undermine belief in the electoral process and, ultimately, our democracy as well.”
Shawn Sebastian, Director of Organizing, RuralOrganizing.org, said: “Rural people have been experiencing political violence all year and we only expect it to intensify as we approach the election and in the aftermath of the election – no matter who wins. When RuralOrganizing.org surveyed its membership, over 25% of them said they were experiencing political violence and threats of political violence. The political violence that we saw when we mapped it out is not relegated to a certain region. It’s not just in the South, for example, or just in the Pacific Northwest. The political violence we saw was in rural areas across the country in nearly every single state. This violence is built on the foundation of the Great Replacement Theory and the Big Lie and we’re seeing the manifestations in small towns and rural counties where there often isn’t organizational infrastructure to push back. This problem won’t magically go away after the election – no matter the outcome. Only long-term, deep investment in organizing can turn back the tide.”
Freddy Cruz, Program Manager for Monitoring and Training at Western States Center, said: “As we approach election day, conspiracy theories alleging voting machines are switching votes and the white supremacist Great Replacement Theory have reemerged as narratives, endangering both election workers and immigrant communities. In the last general election, baseless claims of election fraud in swing states resulted in election workers being doxed and surveilled. Anti-immigrant narratives have resulted in violence in cities like El Paso, Pittsburgh, and Buffalo. As political violence becomes all too common in today’s political environment, Western States Center implores elected officials to use their platform to make it clear voter intimidation is unacceptable, political violence should not be tolerated, and leaders should be committed to a free and fair election with a peaceful transfer of power.”
Zachary Mueller, Sr. Research Director at America’s Voice and call moderator, said: “For the last year, there has been a massive coordinated effort on the American right to blast the Big Lie 2.0 in 360-degree surround sound to a segment of Americans to create the pretext to undermine the results of the election they do not like. It is a deadly lie that is being told at the highest levels of politics on the right consistently and persistently to undermine confidence in American democracy and to create the conditions to make it harder for US citizens to vote.”
RESOURCES AND BACKGROUND
- Access a recording of today’s virtual briefing: HERE
- From Global Project Against Hate and Extremism: Election-Denying Organizations Ramping Up Efforts to Monitor Voting and Sow Disinformation about Election “Fraud”
- From IREHR: The Big Lie Machine.
